Am thinking about buying. Advice please.

[sacadoh]

Have been surfing this weekend about the a-bike.

Have a 3 litre BMW that now does little more than go the station and back - 4 miles each way. Takes me 10 minutes. There is a closer station, at about 1.5 miles with no park and ride. To get there I have one short steep hill - down a private road, then a flat road & tarmac path journey to the station. Takes just over 30 mins to walk, just a little too long to be practical. An a-bike might suit.

Questions.

1. I wear a suit to work, though chinos would be OK. Will they survive a short journey on an a-bike.

2. I should be able to avoid most pot holes on such a short journey but has anyone fallen from their bike or had it collapse on them?

3. If you have bought one how often do you use it?

4. We are heading into winter. Can you fix a front and back light to it?

5. Can the brakes cope with the short steep hill near my house.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[John]

Hi sacadoh,

Here are some answers (my personal opinion).

1. I wear a suit to work, though chinos would be OK. Will they survive a short journey on an a-bike.

The A-Bike is no different to any other bike in this respect,
except that there is no exposed chain to get your clothes
dirty or get caught in the chain.

2. I should be able to avoid most pot holes on such a short journey but has anyone fallen from their bike or had it collapse on them?

I have never fallen from my bike (or even come close to falling).
I have found that there is much less chance of going over the
handlebars than you might think, given the short wheelbase.
Most of your weight is on the rear of the bike. The wheels climb
over rough(ish) terrain quite well, the main effect of the small wheels
is they slow you down on rough terrain, rather than suddenly stop
or get caught.

The A-Bike does take a bit more concentration to avoid obstacles
than a big-wheel bike though. It all relative.
Once I swerved to miss a large pothole on my big-wheeled bike.
Later while waiting for a friend I was watching cars go over the pothole,
most drivers did not even notice it was there.

I have never had the bike collapse, either folding while riding or
collapse due to a structural failure. The folding is well designed.

3. If you have bought one how often do you use it?

I use it 4 or 5 days a week. Mostly to commute to work, which is
6Km (3.7miles) each way. I sometimes take a slightly longer route
just for fun and variety (which takes me over a small hill).

4. We are heading into winter. Can you fix a front and back light to it?

Good question! Fitting a front battery light is easy, just attach one
near the centre of the handlebars. It won't affect the folding.
Someone on the forum has a blog that shows videos of their
a-bike with a front light on it.

A rear light is more problematic. Anything that projects rearward
behind the seat or seatpost will affect the folding. One simple
solution is to attach a small flashing LED light on the
seatpost, and twist it around before you fold the bike.
See here: http://a-bike-owner.blogspot.com/ for details.


5. Can the brakes cope with the short steep hill near my house.

Sometimes I take an alternate route to work which takes me over
a very short but steep hill (probably at least a 7% grade but only over
50 meters. The brakes are fine for this. I do not know about their
performance on longer hills.

Have been surfing this weekend about the a-bike.

Have a 3 litre BMW that now does little more than go the station and back - 4 miles each way. Takes me 10 minutes. There is a closer station, at about 1.5 miles with no park and ride. To get there I have one short steep hill - down a private road, then a flat road & tarmac path journey to the station. Takes just over 30 mins to walk, just a little too long to be practical. An a-bike might suit.

Questions.

1. I wear a suit to work, though chinos would be OK. Will they survive a short journey on an a-bike.

2. I should be able to avoid most pot holes on such a short journey but has anyone fallen from their bike or had it collapse on them?

3. If you have bought one how often do you use it?

4. We are heading into winter. Can you fix a front and back light to it?

5. Can the brakes cope with the short steep hill near my house.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[Binch Shin]

To. A-bike Boy
Great advice. I will introduce your opinion to Korean A-bikers.

To. Sacadoh and Everybody
Through these links you can see some videos and photos by Korean A-bikers.
- Professional Photos
- A-bike Bag
- Open Riding (movie)
- Cornering on A-bike (movie)
Sorry, most of other articles are permitted only to Korean members.

[sacadoh]

Thanks for the advice.

Was in Birmingham today and looked at one in Selfidges. They are amazingly light.

I am a few pounds over the maximum weight limit, though. Time to diet?

There will soon be a stockist in Glasgow, where I am based. Gives me a few weeks to shift a few pounds.

[sacadoh]

Can you advise if the wheels through up water on yourback in the rain?

[Garry]

I don't think it's ever rained here since the A-Bike came out, haha But it's a good question. Also, how will it cope with big puddles, especially the brakes?

[sacadoh]

Thanks Gary.

Am in Manchester next week and think I wil go for it and buy one in Selfidges there.

Tried to buy a strida 3 on ebay but vendor is messing me around.

[thatsme]

Thanks Gary.

Am in Manchester next week and think I wil go for it and buy one in Selfidges there.

Tried to buy a strida 3 on ebay but vendor is messing me around.

so did you buy in the end?
and why were you thinking about to buy the strida?
just curiosity

[sacadoh]

Decided not to buy.

Poor reviews recently in AtoB and CTC magazines re brakes and difficulties in getting tires off have put me off.

Am waiting for a Strida to be delivered. It had to be either a-bike or strida as they are the only bikes that will fit in the overhead luggage compartment in the trains I use.

Had I had the chance of a real life road test I might have gone for the a-bike.

Have yet to see anyone on either bike here in Glasgow.

[Garry]

It would be interesting to hear from someone who has ridden both A-Bike and Strida on the road. I've no doubt Strida is ahead, but it's double the weight, making it almost the same as my full suspension mountain bike!

Garry

[thatsme]

the only reason i am thinking to buy the a bike is for it's weight.
like i said on my original post, i used to owned a brompton when i lived in the uk, but it is bloody heavy to carry it, yeah of course the brompton has the advantage to go almost anywhere.

so you can't have it all.
the a bike according to some people that already have it, can even be ridden for long distances, if of course the roads are quite good, and one must be focused to avoids bumps etc... but otherwise i beileve that is ok.

as for the negative reviews, that it's bound to happen to any invention.
i beileve that the postive reviews balance it finely to the negative ones.

it only depends on your priority!!!
i will definetly buy it, the problem is when, either wait till will be sold it in japan, or spend a bit of more money and order it on line from the uk.
hong kong not really, after reading the imitation problems and their customer services.
cheers

[sacadoh]

So my Strida arrived from an ebay seller. It was an older version than he had advertised and at my request he has agreed to take it back.

Gary, my impression is that it was still too cumbersome & heavy to be used for the purpose of going on a train every day.

I would still like to consider the a-bike save for the following reservations:

1. Brakes are reported weak - I have a short steep hill at the start of my journey.

2. Difficulties in getting tyres on and off when the inevitable rear pucture happens.

3. My desire to try before you buy.

[sacadoh]

Bought an a-bike on ebay for £114.99 incl of post & pack. Am waiting for it to arrive.

It's only planned use is a two mile trip to & from the railway station.

Thanks for all who gave some advice. I hope people still use the forum despite some of the idiot posts that some are leaving that have bugger all to do with the subject.

Will post my experiences on this thread after first use.

[thatsme]

Bought an a-bike on ebay for £114.99 incl of post & pack. Am waiting for it to arrive.

It's only planned use is a two mile trip to & from the railway station.

Thanks for all who gave some advice. I hope people still use the forum despite some of the idiot posts that some are leaving that have bugger all to do with the subject.

Will post my experiences on this thread after first use.

a very good deal.
is it definitely an A bike and not an imitation?

[sacadoh]

I hope not. It should arrive shortly.

I made an offer on a fixed price bike which was accepted.